Blog Archive
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Celebrating #BookLover Moms on #MothersDay!
May 15, 2017
Happy Mother’s Day! I think many of us have our mothers to thank for our love of reading. I’ve blogged before about how my mother and grandmother instilled in me the love of books. They started passing me their Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart novels while I was in middle school and that’s […]
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Deal News for Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie!
May 12, 2017
Congratulations to Tara Luebbe and Becky Cattie on their two forthcoming picture books from Albert Whitman! Can’t wait to see these books on the shelves! (You can find the above announcement in Publisher’s Weekly.)
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Social Media Only Works if You’re Providing Value
May 11, 2017
Every author, published, and unpublished, is encouraged to be on social media. Some publishers even push you to be on every platform, but I know that’s not possible. I’m not nearly as active on Facebook as I am on Twitter and Instagram, two platforms I feel are easier to get in and out of and […]
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Why You Need to Learn the Art of the Synopsis
May 10, 2017
I was kvetching recently on Twitter about authors who don’t send a requested synopsis with their material. I’ll admit, I don’t always read the synopsis, but I do like to have it on hand to see where the book is going and, in many cases, if it’s worth continuing. I never read the synopsis if […]
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Happy #PubDay to Allyson Charles!
May 09, 2017
Congrats to Allyson Charles on the release of the next book in the Pineville Romance series, Why Did It Have to Be You? DISORDER IN THE COURT . . . Connie Wilkerson has worked her butt off to go from heartbroken paralegal with a drinking problem to becoming Pineville, Michigan’s fiercest new lawyer. But she’s still […]
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Four Reasons You Were Rejected Before I Read Your Blurb
May 09, 2017
We always stress that the blurb is the most important piece of your query, which is true, but there are still times when an author kills her chances of me even reading the blurb before I get there. 1. Word count rules are there for a number of reasons and they do still make a […]
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Why Authors Need to Dump the Elevator Pitch
May 08, 2017
At some point in time, probably with the advent of the elevator, authors have been taught that an elevator pitch is as necessary as a pen, vital to have should you ever meet an agent in the hallway, elevator, or (most likely) bar at a conference. You know, that 20 second pitch that tells an […]
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Welcome to #TeamMoe – Amanda Quain!
May 05, 2017
I’m insanely excited to welcome Amanda Quain to #TeamMoe! Many of you blog-readers know I’ve been on the hunt for a fairy-tale retelling (and, yes, I still am!) and Amanda landed just that in my inbox. I can’t wait to be able to share this book with the world! Enough from me. Time to meet […]
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#ChickenPBChat Is Tonight!
May 04, 2017
I hope you’ll excuse me as I toot my own horn for a bit, but my debut picture book Chicken Wants a Nap will be publishing soon and to celebrate I’m hosting a #ChickenPBChat on Twitter with author-illustrator Jannie Ho! If you’re interested in writing, illustrating, or talking about picture books — or just […]
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Why You Need to Rethink Your Prologue
May 03, 2017
Over the years I’ve had a lot of authors ask my opinion on prologues. My response has always been that if the prologue doesn’t move the story forward you have no need for it, but the problem with prologues is actually much bigger than that. When agents and editors talk to unpublished writers and give […]
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Happy #PubDay to Julia Buckley for Death in Dark Blue!
May 02, 2017
Congratulations to Julia Buckley on the release of Death in Dark Blue, the second installment in the Writer’s Apprentice Mysteries! “I can’t remember when I’ve been so enthralled in a story and its characters.”—Miranda James, New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries on A Dark and Stormy Murder An aspiring suspense […]
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Happy #PubDay to Sara Wolf!
May 02, 2017
The third installment of Sara Wolf’s Lovely Vicious series, REMEMBER ME FOREVER, is out today! Isis Blake hasn’t fallen in love in three years, forty-three weeks, and two days. Or so she thinks. The boy she maybe-sort-of-definitely loved and sort-of-maybe-definitely hated has dropped off the face of the planet in the face of tragedy, leaving […]
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